By MARC McDONALD
"The truth is yes--—you do have these standby provisions, and the plans are here...whereby you could, in the name of stopping terrorism, evoke the military and arrest Americans and put them in detention camps."
---Late Democratic Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez
Does George W. Bush's illegal wiretap program have you worried these days? How about the NSA's massive effort to document all your phone calls?
If that doesn't send chills down your back, how about Bush's Orwellian "Patriot" Act, that gives Big Brother the right to sift through your medical, library and financial records? Or Bush's Justice Department, which could well be snooping on your online activities at this very moment?
Still not spooked?
OK, if the following doesn't give you the chills, nothing will: currently there are more than 600 prison camps in America, ready to receive occupants. The government is tight-lipped about the purpose of these prison camps. But one thing's clear. They most definitely exist. And although the camps are currently empty, they clearly exist for some purpose. But what?
Some analysts believe the camps are connected to Rex 84, a program launched by the Reagan administration in (appropriately enough) the year 1984. It was a plan by U.S. government officials to "test their ability to detain large numbers of American citizens in case of massive civil unrest or national emergency."
Additionally, in January 2006, Halliburton subsidiary KBR (formerly Kellogg, Brown and Root) received a $385 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security to build "temporary detention" centers in the U.S.
As the investigative journalist Ritt Goldstein has noted:
(When Reagan) "was considering invading Nicaragua, he issued a series of executive orders that provided the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with broad powers in the event of a "crisis" such as "violent and widespread internal dissent or national opposition against a US military invasion abroad". They were never used.
Fast-forward two decades and the situation we face today has gone from bad to worse. America is currently mired in an increasingly unpopular bloody quagmire in Iraq, thanks to Bush's lies. More and more Americans are speaking out against this senseless, illegal war. And Bush has cynically used 9/11 to systematically crack down on our civil liberties.
Considering his utter contempt for the U.S. Constitution, do you think Bush would hesitate to lock up his opponents in a massive crackdown on dissidents in America? Recall that this is the same administration that never hesitated to crush its opposition, whether it is slandering war heroes or treasonously outing CIA agents. This is an administration that already operates secret prisons in Eastern Europe and has embraced torture as an official instrument of U.S. policy.
The Bush/Cheney junta has never hesitated to do whatever it takes to consolidate its power and crush its opponents. I don't think these thugs would hesitate for a second to lock up dissidents in America, if they felt their power was threatened. It's easy to imagine what could trigger a state of martial law in this country (another 9/11-style attack, for example). And when the day comes when Bush cracks down on us dissidents, the prison camps are already prepared and ready to go.
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ABOUT THE CAMP
Today, security imposes itself as the basic principle of state politics. It is becoming the sole criterion of political legitimation.
It is not anymore a measure of public administration among several others. No, the state's only task and only source of legitimacy is now Security.
But when politics reduces itself to security, the difference between state and terrorism threatens to disappear,
because the state can be provoked by terrorism to turn itself terroristic.
A consequence of this--is a relational transformation between law and violence.
This state of war establishes a void between violence and the law, which is becoming very visible in the concentration camps (Guantanamo, the so-called "CIA Secret Jails," etc.), among other phenomena.
From a legal perspective, the situation of the detainees in Guantanamo is analogous to the situation of the Nazi camps detainees: they both have no legal status, and are thus exposed to potential bloody violence.
More one the MagMa Report--On Violence and the Law
Congratulations for your Blog!
I've put you on my hot-list!
Philippe
the MagMa Report--On Violence and the Law
This is nuts. I've been to Vandenberg AFB, "SLC-6". There is no camp there and they very much have had successful launches from this site. I've also been to Holloman AFB, and no such cmap exists. This is left-wingnut conspiracy crap, and I consider myself a liberal.
Um, I don't know if you know this, but rense.com *might* not be the most credible source of information. Besides the paranoid references to the UN and New World Order in the page you link to about hte prisons, if you go back to www.rense.com's front page there are articles debating whether the holocaust really happened and others positing that the WTC was brought down by thermite charges on 9/11. Besides all that the site is an awful assault on the senses with tons of ads for brain pills and hoodia and the like. All I'm saying is it might boost *your* credibility to not use rense.com as a source.
In response to the earlier poster: skepticism is always a good thing. But then again, Halliburton most definitely did get $385 million of our tax dollars to build detention camps. If these camps don't exist, can I at least get a refund on my taxes? Also when one considers the various crimes of the Bush administration (secret prisons in Eastern Europe, torture as U.S. policy, stealing elections, outing CIA agents, lying the nation into war) does the idea of prison camps in the U.S. still seem implausible?
Actually, anonymous, the FEMA concentration camp stories are survivalist conspiracy theories from the '80's and '90's. Far right-wingers like Texe Marrs have been blathering about these for years.
We live in an era in which the mainstream media not only doesn't investigate Bush's crimes, they actually cover for him. In such an era, sometimes I believe you have to go to the wacky conspiracy sites to get the full truth. Otherwise, there a lot of legit, valid and urgent stories out there that one will NEVER hear about in the MSM. After all, the NYT's Judith Miller's pre-Iraq War coverage of Bush's case for war was just as wacky and full of crap as any wild-eyed conspiracy theory site on the Web. We all know to take a large grain of salt when reading the wacky conspiracy sites. But how many of us do the same when reading the "respected, serious" New York Times? Rense is full of crap on a lot of their stories---but then again, they've run stories on extremely urgent and important topics (like the theft of the 2004 election) that have gotten zero coverage in the MSM.
I am to the point where I question everything.
Yes, you've gotta watch out for these wacky conspiracy sites. I read one outlandish site the other day that claimed that the U.S. government once rounded up 110,000 people, simply based on their race, and forced them into internment camps. I think intelligent readers need to avoid these silly conspiracy sites and instead read writers like The New York Times' Judith ("Bush's case for war is solid") Miller.
Why is it taking so long for this to filter out there...? Many of us in the UK have known about this and scoffed at by our counterparts across the Atlantic as pure hokum.
You might also be interested to know that London has at least 4 or more of these KZ camps, with weapon points, funded by Ken Livingstones office and referred to as R&R centres but in reality they are large scale open plan prison camps... for who?
What you should all do is simple, identify your local camps and watch them and when there is incresing activity, warn the world.
And tell the US Taxpayer just how many billions these camps cost to keep running.
Lastly, point out that Germany started off with just camps then started adding little bits here and there, ovens and chambers, much of it down to cutting expenses of feeding non productice prisoners, could YOU say that Bush would never order such a thing...?
Ian Watson - UK
The idea of detention camps came from Nixon when he was a Congressman from CA. It was called The Internal Emergency Security Act. Under it, the president could declare a state of internal emergency and upon the reccommendation of the AG, "supposed subversives" could be "preventively detained" for the duration of the emergency. It was relatviely unknown until H.Rap Brown wrote "Die Nigger, Die" When word spread about the camps, kept on 24 hour alert, the act was repealed but its provisions reappeared under a new name, FEMA.
In addition to my post above about UK prison camps, I spent six months in Hong Kong with the armed forces and you should have seen the UK camps there for the Vietnamese boat people, Britain always denied what they were but they were christened by the local squaddies as waiting for death camps, called that as most of the inmates would die once forcedly returned to Vietnam and elsehere.
Now, another interesting point is that when a person is being repatriated, they are outside of any law whilst they are in transit, they belong to no country and peculiarly they are not that protected from abuse by international law, on the UK Hercules would be a Queens Messenger, one of them lives near my brother in law in Christchurch and he is quite boastful of what he does, beats up returnees, possessions stolen, people even die and has cooperated also with stuff with US officals as well who he boasts are just as handy for sticking the boot into an already miserable persons possibly last moments of life...
Uh...The U.S., during World War II, did in fact round up Japanese Americans, and they were interred. I don't know if the number of prisoners was 110,000 or not, but I do know that a few years ago the government apologized and paid reparations for that little mistake.
I have no information on whether or not the Bush administration has concentration camps intended for Americans who speak out against a criminal government. Certainly, I wouldn't put that past GWB and his minions if they thought they could get away with it. One would hope that Congress would step in and put a stop to that sort of tyranny, but so far they haven't shown a strong inclination to protect this country or it's citizens.
Lordy, Lordy, I can hear Ann Coulter crowing with delight at the prospect.
Those who don't learn from history are "DOOMED" to repeat it.
I guess everyone forgot about the Indian Reservation camps and those nice resorts that the government put Italians Germans and Japanese during WW2.
Now Halliburton get a nice contract to put "Illegal" Immigrants.
Better wake up or else.
Paul Isaac Jr (sentinel)
nothing burns me up more than so-called lefties and liberals making with the loose wise-cracks about conspiracies, and lumping all theories that would require them to do a little personal research under the 'nut' label.
according to these lazy asses, george w was elected fair and square every time, the watergate burglary was nixon's biggest crime, oswald shot kennedy for who knows what, and 9/11, who knew??
in the real world, halliburton HAS been building 'secret prisons' in the US, and there are about 20 valid reasons to examine the unprecedented collapse of THREE hi-rise, steel and concrete structures in one day.
and i dare you to call me a conspiracy nut to my face.
www.punkyamerica.com
I would like post a statement regarding wingtv and revere radio network.
They are both full of it and may in fact be working together because of certain association between them.
Thomnas Holbrook post false articles writen by victorn thorn about the fireman at Ground zero last year and yet they all know its a false article.
Vanguard
Its funny to me how many people will bash the government but when it come to suspicious people who post BS articles people like wingtv and loosechange and revere radio network...not a peep is heard.
People who would come to Ground Zero to disrespect it then make a up BS article about something that didn't happen are the real enemies.
When it come to the detention camps these are the jerkoffs who belong in them.
Paul Isaac jr (Sentinel)
I have been steadily researching this for some time now, the closest "camp" on the list where I live near Camilla , Ga turns out to be a fed/state prison called Autry state prison, it is in the exact location as the described fema camp.........do the necessary research yourself to keep from passing on MISINFORMation..................dont get me wrong, I know "they" are up to something and it is evil but this camp listed in camilla, ga is right now a 1500 person max securtiy prison, not capable of handling the 20,000 that most reports say these camps can hold. Keep digging for the truth. God bless america!!!!
My brother is at autry and it is more like a concentration camp than a prison. I'm From texas the capital for deathrow and my mother has worked for the state of texas for 20 years at various prisons. The prisons in TX are 4 star hotels compared to AUTRY state prison. He is a good guy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and his trial was the first for the Judge that sentenced him. He has been made an example out of or the judge just wanted to look good. Either way. This story has some credibility. HOUSING:
Six buildings have two living units per building containing 48 double-bunked cells each. Building Seven consists of four individual dormitories with 92 beds each. The eighth building contains one 85 double-bunked segregation living units and one 47 single-bunked isolation living unit. If you believe that 1500 people is the maximum that can fit in the buildings above than I believe you to be sadly mistaken.
Attention : -Ian Watson - UK
I think it was you on London R and R camps I am looking for the equivilent fema camps. Tried to google R and R centre with not much luck! Anyone seen similar.?
Democrat Bill creates detention camps in U.S. for ´emergencies´
The proposed bill appears designed to create the type of detention center that those concerned about use of the military in domestic affairs fear could be used as concentration camps for political dissidents...
Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla., has introduced to the House of Representatives a new bill, H.R. 645, calling for the secretary of homeland security to establish no fewer than six national emergency centers for corralling civilians on military installations.
The proposed bill, which has received little mainstream media attention, appears designed to create the type of detention center that those concerned about use of the military in domestic affairs fear could be used as concentration camps for political dissidents, such as occurred in Nazi Germany.
The bill also appears to expand the president´s emergency power, much as the executive order signed by President Bush on May 9, 2007, that as WND reported gave the president the authority to declare an emergency and take over the direction of all federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments without even consulting Congress.
As WND also reported, DHS has awarded a $385 million contract to Houston-based KBR, Halliburton´s former engineering and construction subsidiary, to build temporary detention centers on an "as-needed" basis in national emergency situations.
According to the text of the proposed bill, the purpose of the National Emergency Centers is "to provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster."
Three additional purposes are specified in the text of the proposed legislation:
To provide centralized locations for the purposes of training and ensuring the coordination of federal, state and local first responders;
To provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response and recovery efforts of government, private, not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations;
To meet other appropriate needs, as defined by the secretary of homeland security. The broad specifications of the bill´s language, however, contribute to concern that the "national emergency" purpose could be utilized by the secretary of homeland security to include any kind of situation the government wants to contain or otherwise control.
Rep. Hastings created controversy during the 2008 presidential campaign with his provocative comments concerning Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
"If Sarah Palin isn´t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention," Hastings said, as reported by ABC News. "Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don´t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through."
H.R. 645, which seeks to allocate $360 million for developing the emergency centers, has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and to the Committee on Armed Services.
inlfor real the[wtc] very well might have been put down by what annoums said i seen a doc, on it and the post that held [wtc] up wear cut at angel just like if donr by cons, compiny
thermit i mean
well, lets all just stop for a minute and consider the facts we have been presented with. 385 million dollars to build the camps, 800 suspected camps...lets just round up to 400 million dollars to make for easier numbers....divided among 800 camps, thats less than half a million per building. Id like to know how you can build and maintain a facility claimed to hold 20,000 people for less than half a million.
As for the credibility of these so-called conspiracy sites, personally, i would say they are opinionated and very leading...or misleading to be honest. What kind of informative work goes around calling people thugs and minions? Thats very professional. (sarcasm, for those of you who didnt catch it.) if you want to investigate the truth about what the government is doing, more power to you, but i would choose to put more faith in sites that are objective rather than demeaning. You couldnt go into a courtroom and start calling names like an offended child and expect the judge to rule in your favor, could you?
Im not by any means saying that all this is or isnt true, im just saying to be very careful where you get your information and try to think about it logically. Sure, 385 million dollars seems like a massive amount, but divided amongst the number of supposed camps, its hardly sufficient. And it is possible, is it not, that the government could actually be taking into consideration the safety of the people? Its possible both ways, but all ive seen so far is blogs and articles that attempt to lead the reader into believing something that really just hasnt been proven. In actuality, it is all only suspicions.
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